


A Blade can be Wielded by Two

by ver_ironica



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst and Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Multi, Unhealthy Relationships, kos spoilers, please don't expect a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:56:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ver_ironica/pseuds/ver_ironica
Summary: [Spoilers]As the Darkling's power reawakens, Mal and Alina take notice in their distant orphanage. A vision of the Darkling appears, after all this time, and Mal says he understands the draw of his power. After everything they've been through, didn't they deserve whatever they wanted?
Relationships: Alina Starkov/Mal Oretsev/The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Mal Oretsev
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	A Blade can be Wielded by Two

**Author's Note:**

> This is so self indulgent and niche but hey I'll row this ship by myself if I need to alright? Please join me though! This is my first work in this fandom so please let me know what you think. Also, please mind the tags.

"The Darkling was... really powerful," Mal says. 

Alina looks up at him sharply from her desk. He's looking out the window of the office at the brewing storm in the sky. He never talks like this, never brings up Aleksander on his own. She holds her questions for a moment--Mal can be slow to express what he means. 

"I can see now, after so long, how jealous I was," he says, swallowing uncomfortably. He looks to her, and she can see this is something he's been warring with himself over for some time. 

"You shouldn't be jealous of him," she says, trying to sound dismissive. He's long dead either way, she thinks. 

"Not... of him," Mal says slowly. "Of you."

Her eyes flash at him. She bites her lip, not understanding. 

He walks over to her and sits on the edge of the desk. "I... for so long, it was you and me. We were no one. Not special, not powerful. To be noticed by someone like him..." Mal shivers slightly, crossing his arms over himself. "I... I wanted to feel that pull, that draw of attention from someone powerful. Like him. Like you."

She flinches at how close the topic was to the power she'd lost. It still feels like a hole inside her, where all that ability had once been. 

These last few weeks have been worrying her. She's been having trouble sleeping, her nightmares of Aleksander's handsome, dying face keeping her awake. She doesn't know how Mal can tell, but she should've guessed he'd be able to. 

She knew he missed his own abilities as much as she did. He told her before that sometimes their simple life chafed at him. 

But she didn't know he'd ever been jealous of what she'd had. 

"I'm sorry I was such an ass," Mal says finally. "Everything I felt, confusion, jealousy--it all just turned into anger. And I didn't... I didn't handle it right." 

"Mal," Alina interrupts, grabbing his hands, "why are you bringing this up? I thought we've gone over this enough. The past is over."

"It feels like it isn't," he answers, looking out the window again. "I feel like... there's still power out there. Somewhere." 

***

That night, the shadows cast by the flickering lamps seemed long and twisted. The storm that had been brewing earlier finally broke into sheets of rain that pounded on the orphanage roof. 

Alina had curled in to bed next to Mal, tracing her hands up and down his arms, trying to soothe him. He still seems unfocused and agitated. 

She takes his chin in her hand, guiding his face to look at her. His eyes are a little wild as he gazes into hers. He engulfs her in a kiss, and she sighs, melting into it. 

"Alina," he says. He kisses her again, trailing down her neck. "Alina," he breathes again against her skin. 

Alina feels a tension in the air, something holding her back. She glances to the corners of the room, focusing on the swirl of shadows there. 

They seem agitated as well.

"Mal," she says, pushing him away from her. 

He's breathless, looking at her with desperation. "What is it?" he asks. 

"It's not enough for either of you, is it?" 

A voice, cool and smooth as ice breathes from the darkness of the room. Alina jolts out of the bed, panic flooding her in an instant. She's in nothing but an old shirt of Mal's, and feels bare and weak with her emptiness inside. 

"He's--he's in my head again--" she cries out. 

Mal stands next to her. He swallows, breathing hard as he grabs her hands in his. "I heard him, too." 

She whirls on him. "You did?" 

Mal stiffens suddenly. 

"What he would do to feel special..." 

Aleksander's voice whispers from right above Mal's ear. 

"His hands..." Mal tries to say. "Something touched me." 

Alina blinks, trying to make sense of all this. She can see gooseflesh raised on his bare arms. 

"Alina," Mal says, at the same time she swears she can hear Aleksander whisper her name as well. "If I was brought back that day..." 

She feels her heart clench. She trembles now, the both of them are shaking. But she sets her jaw, lifts her chin defiantly. 

"Who's to say he couldn't come back as well?" Mal finishes. 

"We fought for this life, Mal, I'm not going to have it be ruined by the past's shadows." 

She squares her feet, looking sharply about the room. 

Mal sighs beside her, his shoulders lowering. "What if I want it ruined?" 

She turns to him. "What are you talking about?"

"He wants more, to feel special again," Aleksander's voice purrs, wrapping around the two of them. "He _misses_ me."

Alina can't help the gasp that escapes her lips. "Mal, he's not really here, he's lying, he--" 

Mal dips to kiss her then. His tongue slips between her open lips. 

She feels hands on her then, lightly stroking down her neck. But Mal's got both his hands on her hips. 

"He is here," Mal gasps out finally. "And he's not lying." 

Alina feels tears well in her eyes. 

"How long did you fight him, Alina?" Mal asks, kissing her ear, her neck, his hands moving up underneath her night shirt. "Don't we deserve to give in? Don't we deserve... to feel special again?"

Mal gasps against her skin. The small light of the lamp next to the bed goes dark, swathing the room in shadow. 

"So you really can feel me, _okatsa'ya_? This tattoo... you got it for Alina?" 

Mal shudders. "Yes. I am hers." 

"Is that so?"

Alina'a eyes adjust slowly to the darkness. The storm outside breaks, and moonlight peeks through the clouds, casting a silvery glow into their room. She can see the flush of Mal's face. Shapes take form in the dark, and she can see a figure standing behind Mal. The shadow's hands are teasing the muscles of his back. She can see familiar handsome features, hauntingly beautiful, from her nightmares. 

She feels her heart break with grief and hope. 

"Don't you miss me too, Alina?" Aleksander asks. 

Mal kisses her lips once more, pulling her close to him. Her past and her future, intertwined in the dark room. Tears sting her eyes. She can't find any words. 

"Alina, he's here, and I don't want to hold back this time," he says, voice rough and pleading. She can see his brows furrow and eyes close tightly. "I want..." 

"He's so desperate, isn't he Alina? _He_ drew me back here, with his aching..." 

Slender hands take shape along Mal's jaw. He gasps again and the hands turn him to face upward. 

Aleksander stands there, pale skin almost glowing in the snatch of moonlight from the window, the only light. She can't deny anymore that he's here, right now, in their bedroom. 

And Mal... 

Mal turns and allows the Darkling to take him, kissing him deeply with a groan. 

"Please," Mal manages to ask into the kiss. 

Mal is pushed away from her then, his arms pinned to the wall. Aleksander holds him there, solid and real, and grinds himself against him. Mal lets out a choked moan. 

Alina puts her hands over her mouth as she watches. It feels like one of her nightmares. But to her horror she feels the familiar pull, drawn to him as well. She feels the empty part of her filling with some power. She may never summon light again, but she is not powerless either. 

The shadows in the room swirl sluggishly around her. She can feel it, the traces of his abilities within her, awakening. 

Mal groans as Aleksander pushes his tongue into his obliging mouth. Alina swallows. 

She slowly reaches out, hand trembling, to touch Aleksander's back. Under her touch, his form ripples, and his black undershirt disappears, leaving his pale skin bare. Her hands graze his back in disbelief. 

"Alina, you _did_ miss me," he says, his voice nearly breaking with genuine happiness. He pulls away, but doesn't remove his hands, leaving Mal gasping and shuddering against the wall. "Shall we give him a taste of our power together?" 

"Please," Mal asks roughly, his sandy hair ruffled and face flushed. 

She couldn't--wouldn't resist this time. They'd earned this. It was what they deserved. 

"Aleksander," she says, and his form wavers as he closes his eyes, his expression like a man starved, saved by the taste of her voice. 

The power she holds over these two is nearly as warming as sunlight. It is intoxicating. 

With deliberate slowness, she tugs off her night shirt, her long white hair shining where it falls over her breasts and back. She steps between them, letting Mal reach for her under the Darkling's hold. 

Aleksander shivers and presses against her, and she can feel his hard arousal, the shape of his body against her. Mal's hands hold her like he'll drown if he lets go. 

"Mal?" she whispers. 

"Yes, Alina?" 

"Is this what you want?" 

Mal nods fervently. "Yes. It's wrong, I can't make sense of it. I won't even try. But this is what I wanted... for so long." 

Aleksander gives a low rumble of approval behind her, sending heat through her core. 

"If I'm to be powerless... let me be held by him. By you. By both of you. Let me feel a taste of it," he begs. 

She kisses him deeply then. His hands run up to cup her breasts. She feels Aleksander shift behind her, one of his hands on her, the other moving to Mal. 

" _Ah_ ," Mal gasps, and she sees the Darkling has a hand stroking Mal's hard length. 

"And you Alina?" Aleksander purrs. "This is what you want as well?" 

"Yes," she says against Mal's mouth. She shifts her hips, moving herself against Aleksander's hardness. 

The Darkling grips Mal through his soft trousers in earnest now, and Mal moans. Alina feels herself grow wet at the sight. 

"Oretsev," the Darkling commands, "you said you wanted a taste. Well?" 

Mal's eyes widen. He drops down to his knees, and places his hands on Aleksander's thighs. Alina touches the material there, and then the Darkling is completely naked. Mal whimpers, and then licks his tongue along Aleksander's hard length. 

The Darkling shivers. Alina knew Mal had had many different partners before her over the years, but hadn't imagined Mal to be very practiced at this sort of thing. But by the way Aleksander's composure slipped slightly, she assumed he must be skilled. They were quite a sight, Mal with all his warm, rugged edges, the Darkling as if sculpted of marble and shadow.

Alina presses herself against him, content to watch, but gasps with surprise as Aleksander's fingers trail down her hips to her wetness. He waits for her to protest, and when she simply nods, he dips a finger into her heat. 

She moans. At her sound, Mal opens his mouth wide to take in Aleksander's cock fully. The wet sounds of his mouth working back and forth have Alina shaking. 

"Very good, Oretsev... To think all that time I could've had you like this..." the Darkling murmurs, his smooth voice going a little rough around the edges, his hips grinding slightly. 

Mal hollows his cheeks and works faster, chasing more praise. 

"I can see-- _ngh_ \--why you would be with him," Aleksander says, breathing harder. He moves his finger against the sensitive spot inside her, and she groans. 

"Don't stop, both of you," she gasps. 

Mal lets out a pleased sigh, and continues pleasuring the Darkling, giving himself over completely to guilty desire. Aleksander adds another finger inside her, moving faster, and she cries out his name. 

"Alina, please, I need..." Aleksander says, grabbing Mal's hair with his other hand. He roughly tugs him off, Mal's mouth leaving with a soft popping noise, spit shining in the moonlight. 

"Wait--" Mal says. 

"Hush now, you'll have your turn, Oretsev," the Darkling says sharply, and Mal's gaze darkens with arousal. "Patience." 

Aleksander pulls his fingers out of her wetness and she gasps at the loss. He looks at her with desperation, and she nods. With a nearly ravenous desire, he picks her up and places her onto her and Mal's bed. He stands at the side of it, shadows dancing around them in swirls of excitement. He lets her legs wrap around him, and lines himself up with her entrance, before finally pushing himself in with a high gasp. 

"Alina," he cries, nearly wantonly. "Alina, _oh, Alina_." 

Alina moans as he fills her, connecting her to him at her very core. She missed him so much, the feel of him inside her bringing fresh pleasured tears to her eyes. His voice, saying her name again and again filling her body with heat and longing.

Mal wraps his arms around the Darkling from behind, and Alina can see his arousal tenting his soft trousers. She can hardly stop the noises escaping her lips, lucky again for the thick walls of their home. 

Aleksander turns to roughly kiss Mal, his tongue moving into his mouth without resistance. Alina shudders as their kiss causes Aleksander to increase his speed inside her. 

To see Mal like this, letting go of all his tension and giving in to something he's craved for so long... it made her heart melt. She had no idea how badly he wanted this, never imagined the moans pouring from his lips at the Darkling's touch. 

"Harder," she breathes. 

Both of them shiver at her words. Aleksander thrusts into her, and Mal kisses with fervor, his tongue twisting around the Darkling's, Mal's hips grinding at the empty air, desperate. 

"Mal, now let me have you as well," Alina says. 

He nods, breaking his kiss almost reluctantly. But he's hers first, always, and looks at her with longing. She gestures for him to come around to the other side of the bed, and she adjusts so she can lean her head off the side. Upside down, she opens her mouth, and Mal tugs down his pants, lets himself be drawn into her eagerly. 

Aleksander watches, his motions in her wetness slowing to a deep grind. 

"Alina--" Mal moans. 

She feels so full, full of love and desire for the two of them inside her. She moves her tongue along Mal's length, so familiar, she knows exactly where to graze her tongue along his head to make him fall apart. 

Aleksander grabs her legs, moving them up to wrap around his shoulders. She lets out a high cry of surprise around Mal at the depth of the feeling of him. 

_"Oh..."_ Aleksander gasps. 

Her eyes flutter closed as the heat inside her grows, and she sucks at Mal faster. She clenches around Aleksander, and he shudders.

She opens her eyes and realizes Mal and Aleksander are kissing above her as they move in her. All at once the rush of her orgasm floods her, and she gasps. 

"Mal, Aleksander..." 

"So good, Alina, I missed you, missed this," Aleksander says lowly as his hips stutter. "And Oretsev..." 

Mal curses under his breath, twisting his hands in her silvery hair. She knows he's about to finish as well, and she holds him there and moans an affirmation. 

With a choked moan, Mal releases into her mouth. She swallows quickly, relaxing her throat. 

The Darkling makes a noise, low and broken, reaching his climax. 

"Alina..." 

With a swirl of shadows, the warmth of him inside her disappears. She jolts, eyes opening wildly. She sits up so fast she nearly bumps Mal, who is leaned forward as though to kiss Aleksander again, but there is only empty air. 

"No," she says. "No, Aleksander! Aleksander?" 

Mal makes a choked sound, putting his hands over his mouth. She sees tears shining in his eyes. 

"Alina," he sobs, "why did we... why did I..." 

She feels tears prick her eyes as well. With a hurt anger, she reaches out to the power inside her again, sweeping her arm through the darkness of the room. 

The shadows respond slowly, as if grieving. 

She curses in frustration. Mal pulls her into his open arms. 

"I'm sorry, Alina," Mal says. 

Her tears spill over into her cheeks. "I'm sorry, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Anybody else joining me in this crack ship?
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @ver-writes!


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